


Who am I?

by fairyteller



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Biological Father, Family, Father-Son Relationship, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-05 10:16:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14042049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairyteller/pseuds/fairyteller
Summary: How did Mr. Stark know his parents? His birthmother?“How do you… did you know them?”“No, no.” Tony said, his arrogant air about him back for just a millisecond before they dropped again. It was weird seeing him so vulnerable. “I never met your parents. I did meet your birthmother though. Once.”Peter felt the hairs on the back of his neck stick up.“Just… Once?”“Just once.”





	Who am I?

**Author's Note:**

> What is linear storytelling? Not this.

The woman looked up at the large house with bright lights streaming from the windows, acting as beacons through the dead of night. The music from within was so loud that it shook the foundations.

This was a mistake. She should never have returned here.

But…

A younger woman brushed passed her, their shoulders colliding causing the woman to stagger forward. The younger woman didn’t even look back as she continued her way into the house, giggling as she was pulling along by her friend. The two disappeared into the house.

The woman straightened up took deep breath.

Step one: Find him.

Step two: …

She’ll get back to that later.

She slowly stepped forward. The inside of the house was warm, the air thick with the smell of beer and the sounds of drunken laughter.

As she made her way up the stairs, she attempted to steady her pace. To make it look like she was walking with power. As if she was someone to be reckoned with.

She could hear his laughter from inside a bedroom and she froze. He wasn’t alone in there.

What was she doing? She shouldn’t be here.

She _couldn’t_ be here.

Very slowly, she backed away from the door. The door whose cracks leaked the laughter of _him_. The same door from which she had emerged two months ago not knowing her life had been changed forever.

A few days later, the woman stared at the small television of her small apartment where almost everything had been packed away into small boxes.

She stared with a blank expression, not sure whether to be relieved or terrified, as she listened to the newscaster’s report:

“In other news, Tony Stark has finally returned to his home in New York after spending two whole months Cambridge, Massachusetts. Stark reports that he was on an extended vacation, however eye witness statements tell us that he spent an extensive amount of time in the M.I.T. area. Perhaps he was recruiting for Stark Industries?”

The other news reporter laughed as he said: “It’s more likely Stark was looking to recruit for something else, don’t you think Melissa?”

The woman carefully laid her hand over her stomach as she continued to watch the newscasters laugh, a sense of dread settling over her heart.

She only tore her eyes away when her phone rang.

**…**

Director Fury looked at the security feed, squinting his one eye as he re-watched it for the third time.

There was a woman, laying in a bed sobbing. The doctor was trying to sooth her to no avail.

“What about my baby?” The choppy audio from the feed was not synced up to the woman’s voice.  

The doctor’s deeper voice replied, “He seems to fine. Very healthy. This won’t affect him.”

The woman continued to sob.

“I’m sorry to ask this,” the doctor’s voice continued to crackle. “But is there anyone else for the boy? Family members…” The doctor’s question hung in the air. The woman knew what he was asking anyway.

“There’s no one,” she muttered, so quietly that the mic almost didn’t pick it up. “No one that matters, anyway.”

Fury looked down at the file before him.

“Hill.” He called, “Get me Agents Parker and Parker please. I think we might have a solution to their problem.”

“What problem, sir?”

“Just get me the Parkers.” Fury muttered.

He listened to Hill’s footsteps get quieter as he continued to watch the feed.

**…**

Peter Parker was having a really good day.

He had managed to stop a small bank robbery, give five people directions from the bus station, save a cat, and aced his algebra test.

“Hey, May.” He called as he entered his apartment, pulling his earbud out and letting the door swing shut behind him.

He froze at the sight before him, and he felt his good day shatter.

Aunt May was standing in the middle of the living room, her hands thrown up in the way they did when she had been wildly gesticulating as she lectured.

The poor soul who was the recipient of that lecture? Tony Stark.

Why was he here? Peter usually went upstate to work with Tony about once a week, but Tony almost never came down to visit Peter at his and May’s apartment. Had Peter done something wrong? Was it a mission? Was this Spider-Man related?

“H-Hey Mr. Stark,” Peter said hurriedly. “W-What are you doing here?”

“I was just leaving, kid.” Mr. Stark said quickly.

“Tony,” May shot a hand out over his chest as he tried to leave. “He needs to know. Before someone else can tell him first.”

Peter fidgeted nervously. “Tell me what?”

May gave him a strained smile. “You’re home early, Peter,” She said airily. “Did decathlon practice get canceled?”

“Uh, yeah,” Peter was beyond bewildered. “Yeah, MJ said she had a… thing. So, she let us off the hook.”

He looked between his aunt and Mr. Stark. “What’s going on? Tell me what?”

Mr. Stark gave May a sideways glance before throwing caution to the wind.

“Peter, there’s something I have to tell you.”

“O-Okay?” Peter’s inner alarm bells were going off loudly. He and Ned had dubbed this his ‘Spidey Sense’, it was never a good sign when he felt it go off.

Tony shot May another look, and she sighed, relenting.

“Peter, you remember your parents, right?” May asked softly.

Peter blinked, his gaze shifting from Mr. Stark to May. “What?”

“Your mom and dad.”

“Yeah… I remember them…” It wasn’t a total lie. Peter remembered his mom’s smile and his dad’s laugh. He remembered his mother taking him to the library with her and laughing as he tried his hardest to keep his excitement at bay because you had to be quiet in the library. He remembered his father teaching him how to use a screwdriver correctly, and the two using his newfound skill to dismantle a calculator, a radio, and an old computer.

And he remembered the day Aunt May and Uncle Ben sat him down and told him that blood relations did not equate to love. That they loved him just as much as any aunt and uncle loved any nephew. That his parents had loved him with more love then was capable in a human heart.

He didn’t remember much more than that.

“Your parents met your birthmother four months before you were born. She told her doctors that she didn’t know who the dad was, but she was lying.”

Peter whipped his head over to Mr. Stark, his eyes widening. How did Mr. Stark know his parents? His birthmother?

“How do you… did you know them?”

Of course Peter had wondered about her. She was 23, about to graduate from M.I.T. when she found herself pregnant. But she got sick. Really sick. She delivered a happy, healthy baby boy and died four months later. There wasn’t much more that Peter could find about her. That’s all anyone ever knew.

“No, no.” Tony said, his arrogant air about him back for just a millisecond before they dropped again. It was weird seeing him so vulnerable. “I never met your parents. I did meet your birthmother though. Once.”

Peter felt the hairs on the back of his neck stick up.

“Just… Once?”

“Just once.”

Peter was smart enough to put two and two together. But he looked back to Tony for conformation anyway, and Tony nodded. Peter took a step back.

“What… I don’t… I don’t understand.”

“Do I have to spell it out for you, Pete?” Mr. Stark almost sounded annoyed, which made May very annoyed.

“That’s enough, Stark.” May warned.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“I’m sorry, Peter, this wasn’t supposed to get out. Look, the tower had a huge security breach and-”

“ _You mean you weren’t going to tell me at all?_ ” Peter couldn’t help his voice cracking. He could feel tears stinging behind his eyes and quickly blinked.

“Pete-”

“How long have you known?”

Mr. Stark paused. “About six years.”

“ _Six years?_ ”

“Peter-”

“So, what made you show up now? After all this time?” Peter paled, a horrible thought suddenly crossing his mind. “Was it because of Spider-Man?”

“What? No!”

Peter began to back up, away from this man. This man claiming to be his father. This man who thought he could just show up and mess with Peter’s life. The man Peter _let_ just show up and mess with his life. “You… you didn’t want me until I was Spider-Man.”

“Peter that’s not true-”

“Then _why_?”

“I was trying to protect you!”

“Bullshit!” The tears were falling down his face freely now. “You were just trying to protect yourself.”

“Peter-”

Peter shook his head, he didn’t want to listen to this. He didn’t have to, and he told Mr. Stark so. Without waiting for a response, he bolted, sprinting past the kitchen into his bedroom. He heard Tony yell his name after him before he slammed the door shut.

Safe in his room, Peter putting his hands over his ears. This was too much, way too much. He sunk down on his knees, curling in on himself. He tried to focus on his breathing, but it was hard. He felt as if another building had dropped on him.

He didn’t hear what Tony said on the other side of the door. He didn’t hear Aunt May usher Mr. Stark out of the apartment. He didn’t hear the words the two exchanged, and he didn’t hear the door close.

He didn’t hear May tentatively call his name, and didn’t hear her slowly open his door and walk in.

He felt small hands fall hesitantly on his back. He felt the small circles she rubbed, and it comforted him and grounded him.

Peter didn’t know how long he sat there, with Aunt May rubbing his back, until he began to hear again. He heard May whispering soothing words.

He was finally able to lift his tear streaked gaze up to meet his aunts face.

“Aunt May,” his voice cracked, cracking her heart along with it. “Who am I?”

**…**

“Who is he, Fury?” Richard’s question came as more of a demand.

He picked up the file on the desk behind him. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is who he is going to be.”

Fury had personally hired the Richard Parker and Mary Fitzpatrick almost ten years ago. Capable. Smart. They were an unstoppable team. It was a surprise to no one when the two got married.

After a pregnancy scare, the two had decided that they did actually want children. It was then they learned that Mary was incapable of carrying a child.

It was a hard hit for their whole department.

“Fury.” Richard’s voice brought Fury back to the present.

Fury sighed, and then relented. “We keep tabs on those who could become potential assets in the future.”

“Asset?” Mary muttered as took the file and opened it.

“This kid’s going to have the genetic disposition to be a genius. The world needs genius. And to fully foster said genius, the kid’s going to need guidance. Better it be from those we trust than those we don’t.”

“And if he’s not?” Mary asked, her eyes flicking up from the file to match Fury’s gaze. “If he’s not who you want him to be?”

“Then he’s not. Like I said,” Fury raised brow. “A _potential_ asset.”

Mary’s eyes train themselves back the file, her brow furrowing slightly as she read. She turns the page and looks back up in shock. “ _Oh my God._ ”

Richard snatched up the file from Mary’s hands.

“Does he know?” She demanded.

“No, and he won’t.”

Richard steals a quick look up from the file. “And why’s that?”

“His PR team got to her first. No one was supposed to know.”

Mary cleared her throat. “And his mother?”

“Dying. She won’t make to his first birthday.”

The three lapsed into silence.

“Look,” Fury finally said. “I know this is a big decision. I’ll give you guys some time to think about it.”

The Parkers exchange a look. Richard gives Fury his infamous odd smile.

“You know this is what we’ve wanted for a while. You wouldn’t have asked if you didn’t think we’d say yes immediately.”

Fury chose to remain silent, watching the Parkers closely.

“I want to meet her,” Mary said suddenly. “The mother. She deserves to know everything. She deserves to know what will happen to her boy.”

Fury nodded. “That can be arranged.”

**…**

“You are Peter Parker.” May grabbed her nephew’s shoulders, crouching down just slightly enough to meet Peter’s eyes. She waited until his tearful gaze met her own.

“Peter Parker,” She repeated, using her thumb to wipe at a stray tear on his cheek. “Son of Mary and Richard Parker, kid genius, kindhearted, dumpster diver, Peter Parker. Spider-Man, a hero, my nephew, and my whole world.”

“But-”

“But nothing.” She pulled him into a tight hug. He buried his head in her shoulder and she carded her fingers through his hair. “I don’t have all the answers you want,” She muttered. “But whether you chose to pursue those answers or not, _I will always be here_. No matter what, okay? I love you so, so much, and whatever you choose, we’ll do it together.”

She felt his arms tighten around her. A little too tight. The kid was getting strong. She didn’t complain though.

She just hugged him tighter.

**…**

When F.R.I.D.A.Y. told him that he had a priority call from May Parker, Tony knew he was fucked.

“Hey May,” Tony answered his phone, elongating his syllables to try to sound lighthearted.

“What the hell, Stark?” Damnit, May sounded pissed.

“May, I left a very important meeting to answer this call, you’re going to have to be a little more specific with your grievance.”

“Don’t play games with me, Stark. How long did you know?”

“May, I have no idea what you’re talking about. What do I know?”

There was a long silence. If Tony hadn’t known better, he would’ve thought May had hung up on him.

Finally, her voice returned. “I’m going to ask you a question, and I want you to give me a God honest answer.”

Tony didn’t answer, his brow crinkling as he wondered what was coming next.

May took a deep, steadying breath. “Are you Peter’s father?”

**…**

“Tony.”

Tony did not turn at the sound of Agent Hill’s voice.

She continued to stand there. Waiting. Not speaking.

It was almost uncharacteristic of her, which peaked his interest.

“Can I help you or are you just going to stand there?”

“Tony, I have to speak with you about a… sensitive… issue.”

Tony half-turned. Because that’s how much attention he planned to give this discussion. Half.

Maria had an unreadable expression on her face. She was holding a manila folder close to her chest with both hands.

“Paper documents?” Tony snorted, “I think we’re beyond that technology now, Hill.”

“Like a said,” Maria gave him her trademark dry smile, allowing her look of importance to slip of her face for just a second. “This is a sensitive issue.”

“Okay. You’ve officially intrigued me. You’ve got thirty seconds. Go.”

“These files were pulled from all S.H.I.E.L.D. networks about five years ago. And now, they’re in no safer hands than yours.”

Tony attempted to keep his bafflement and curiosity at bay. “Was that a complement Hill?”

“Unfortunately.”

It was official. Tony was spooked. Not just spooked, he was scared. Hill never complemented him; she snarked him at any and every chance she got. Whatever was in that folder… Tony had a feeling he didn’t want to know.

Hill was holding out the folder. Tony eyed it. Then grabbed it, acting as if he didn’t care. He turned back away from her, dropping the folder on his desk. “Anything else I need to know.”

“Don’t be an idiot about this Tony,” Hill said.

“Anything new?”

“I’m serious Tony. Especially about this.”

He listened to Hill’s heals click away until the sound disappeared. He turned back to his work, trying to ignore the manila rectangle in his peripheral.

He was distracted again when another set of heals clicked in.

“Was that Maria?” Pepper asked, coming up behind Tony and peering over his shoulder.

“Yep.”

“What did she want?”

“To give me this,” He tapped his fingers on the cover of the folder. “I don’t know what it is, sounded pretty important.”

Pepper glanced at him. “Do you want me to…?”

Tony sighed. God, he loved Pepper. He picked up the folder. “It’s all yours,” he said giving her a tight lipped, wide smile.

She kissed his cheek and began to walk away opening the folder and beginning to read as she walked, her heals clicking away.

Click, click, click, cli –

She stopped.

“Oh my God.”

Tony turned, watching her stand in the middle of his workshop, reading intently. She turned to face him slowly. “Tony…”

He walked briskly forward, snapping the folder out of her hands.

“Tony-”

CONFIDENTIAL: PARKER, PETER B.

There was an old picture of a newborn baby, wrapped in a soft blue blanket and wearing a soft red hat, wrinkled with folded edges. Tony guessed that this was Peter Parker.

His suspicions were correct with the page directly behind the photo. A birth certificate for a Peter Benjamin Parker, born at 6:28 am on June 1st, 2002.

The next set of paperwork chronicled what seemed to be a fairly quick adoption process. Richard and Mary Parker.

He glanced back at the photo before moving on. Looking for what Pepper had seen.

It was on the next page.

A paternity test.

For Peter Parker and Anthony Stark.

**…**

The woman eyed the couple that walked into her hospital room. She placed her hand protectively over her stomach. She could only guess why they were here.

“Hello,” The wife had a soft voice, her eyes matched her slightly sad expression. “My name is Mary Parker, and this is my husband, Richard.” Richard gave her a kind smile. “I’m sure know why we’re here.”

“The doctor mentioned something about visitors. But you’re not here for me, are you?”

Mary gave her an even sadder smile. “Not entirely, no.”

“We’re operatives for S.H.I.E.L.D. Do you know what that is?”

“You work for... him…” The woman couldn’t believe this was happening.

“No, he’s not yet aware of our existence. However, it is our job to monitor people like him. And you’ve popped up on our radar.”

“I already swore I wouldn’t tell. What else do you want from me?”

“We want you to keep one more secret,” Mary said hesitantly. “Because I thought you deserved to know everything. This is strictly against protocol.”

Mary’s soft eyes were comforting, and the woman couldn’t help but trust her.

Richard handed her a file. The woman slowly opened it, allowing her eyes to rack across the words.

She looked up at Mary. “Who is he going to?”

“Us.” Mary said immediately. The woman realized that Mary was being totally honest. That she wouldn’t hold one little detail from her. Some maternal bond the two now would share had prevented her from lying, had caused her to break protocol, to tell her the absolute honest truth.

The woman felt tears filling her eyes as she took the pen from Richard Parker and signed her name on the documents.

“Promise me,” the woman whispered as she held the pen out to Mary. “Not as an Agent, as a… as a mother. Just… promise me. Please.”

The woman had never remembered feeling so vulnerable before in her life. Not even the morning all those months ago where she had sunk to the floor in tears, holding a pregnancy test in one hand and her stomach with the other.

The terms of the promise went unspoken as Mary knelt down, sitting on her knees on the hospital room floor. She grabbed the woman’s hand with both of her own.

“I promise you. That little boy will be loved. He will be so, so loved.”

The woman nodded, letting tears spill onto her face.

“What will you name him?” Her voice cracked as she her gaze rolled up towards Richard, and then back to Mary.”

“We were thinking we’d call him ‘Peter’.” Richard said softly.

The woman looked down at her stomach. She placed her free hand over the large bump and rubbed it gently. “Peter Parker,” she tested, a ghost of a smile on her face.

**…**

Tony felt as if the floor had opened up under him. “Excuse me?”

“Are you Peter’s biological father?”

“How… What… How do you know?”

“So, you are.” May didn’t sound surprised. She didn’t sound particularly happy either.

“I-”

“Does Peter know?”

“I- no. No, no one knows.” Lie. Pepper and Hill knew. “May, how do _you_ know.”

“I can’t believe you! How long have you known?”

“May, who told you?”

“Do even have any respect for other people? How could you keep this from him?”

“May-”

“ _Do you even care?_ ”

“Of course I care!” Tony lost his own train of thought for a moment. “Why do you think I hid this? You think that kid wants an absentee father? Another figure to come and go from his life? My line of work is dangerous, May. My lifestyle is dangerous. I couldn’t put him through any more than he’s already been through.”

There was a long pause.

“Mr. Stark, I don’t expect you to understand what Peter and I have been through.” May’s voice was quiet. “But I want you to imagine something. Imagine a little boy. A little boy who begged his aunt and uncle for months to take him to the Stark Expo.”

Tony felt his heart sink.

“His aunt and uncle couldn’t quite afford it. His uncle worked double shifts for weeks just to afford tickets. In the end it was his uncle’s boss giving him a surprise bonus that got the little boy into the place of his dreams. Now imagine that the Stark Expo becoming overrun with killer robots. And imagine that the little boy gets separated from his aunt and uncle. Imagine the little boy, dressed as Iron Man, getting targeted by one of the killer robots. And Iron Man flies in and blows up the robot, before flying away.”

Tony felt his heart tighten. He remembered this. That was Peter?

“And imagine that little boy afterwards. How do you imagine he felt?”

“Scared,” Tony said, this voice thick. “Traumatized. May, this is what I’m talking ab-”

“He was ecstatic. Much to his aunt’s horror, you can imagine, Mr. Stark. He wouldn’t stop talking about how Iron Man saved his life for weeks. Iron Man quickly became is favorite superhero. His idol.”

May paused, as if she was waiting for Tony to speak again. When it was clear he wouldn’t, she said, “Tony. Peter looks up to you. Don’t screw this up.”

Then she hung up.

Tony didn’t know how long he stood there in a stunned silence, the sunlight streaming through the large windows to his right dimming as time ticked on.

Finally, after what felt like days, he moved his lips.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., scan all the systems servers. Run every diagnostic. I want to know how the fuck this got out.”

“On it, boss.”

**…**

Tony and Pepper poured over the rest of the file together.

There were dozens of papers in the file. The first being a confidentiality contract, signed by what must have been the child’s birth mother. The contract was also signed by Mary and Richard Parker.

Several confidentiality contracts in fact. Tony thumbed through them slowly. It seemed that almost everyone who had come into contact with the kid had signed one of these until at least age five.

The next few pages chronicled all information on the Parkers. Starting with their education to their involvement in S.H.I.E.L.D., ending with their death on a mission where they posed as double agents. The story was covered as a plane crash.

A whole section of these specific files was redacted. Holding the paper up to the light, the only word Tony could make out was the first: “Peter”. The rest of the redacted files were unreadable.

Then there were several pages covering the life of Peter Parker, including his school records and photos for pre-school through first grade, doctor’s records, tests, scores, and personality quirks that had been noted over the years.

The paper following that was another adoption form, this time detailing guardianship to May and Ben Parker, who were Peter’s paternal aunt and uncle.

The flow of documents abruptly ended after that.

“This must have been when they pulled it,” Pepper muttered, looking back and forth between two leaflets in her hands. “But why?”

“When was it pulled?”

Pepper was silent for a few seconds; the only sound being ruffling papers as she searched.

“Uh, it looks like… 2008.” She finally answered.

Tony pulled a news clipping out from under some of the Parker’s S.H.I.E.L.D. files. A big headline announcing the death of Richard and Mary Parker on March 23rd, 2008.

_“A tragic accident”_ The journalist had written, _“The Parkers were highly regarded biochemists in the scientific community, and their death has robbed the world of a greater future.”_

“I guess that explains it,” Tony said. “His aunt and uncle adopted him soon after, I’m guessing they weren’t aware of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s involvement.”

Tony set down the newspaper article picked the baby photo back up. “2002, right?”

“What?” Pepper mumbled distractedly, looking around over the sea of paper surrounding them before she located the birth certificate. “Oh. Yeah, June 1st, 2002.”

“So, what, he’d be 11?”

“10, I think. J.A.R.V.I.S., can you locate Hill for me?” Pepper began to gather all the papers off the floor, rearranging them back into a neat stack before placing them carefully back into the manila folder. “I need to talk to her.”

“Of course, ma’m.”

Pepper kissed Tony on the cheek. “We’ll figure this out, okay?”

As she walked briskly away Tony couldn’t help but think about how lucky he was to have her. She didn’t question him at all, pester him, judge him. She only promised to make everything better, even before either of them knew the full story.

He waited until long after her shoes were out of sound range before speaking.

“J.A.R.V.I.S.?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Start running searches on my private server. Get me anything you can get on Peter Parker.”

**…**

The woman didn’t see the Parkers again for months. They reappeared late in May, and she knew it was for the delivery.

They stayed for a week and, in the early morning of June 1st, Mary Parker held the woman’s hand through her two-hour labor.

A few hours later the three were looking into the eyes of Peter Parker. The cooed as he yawned. There was something intelligent in his small eyes as he looked around at them.

48 hours later, the woman said goodbye to the Parker family, kissing little Peter’s head before they walked out of her life forever.

The woman died, alone in her small, empty apartment, four months later.

When they found her, there was a photograph of a small baby, wrapped in a soft blue blanket and wearing a soft red hat, in her hands.

**…**

“Peter, are you okay?”

Peter looked up at the sound of Ned’s voice. His friend was sitting across from him in the lunch room, a worried expression on his face.

“Yeah… yeah, I’m good.”

“Are you sure? Because you’ve been staring at the table for the last fifteen minutes.”

Peter blinked. “Have I?”

“Yeah dude, what’s going on?”

Peter sighed. “It’s a long story.”

“On the bright side,” a new voice caused the boys to turn their heads. Michelle had chosen that moment to put in her two-cents. “You were still for so long I got this great drawing of your despair.”

She held up her journal, a pencil drawing a Peter very prominent on the page. It was actually pretty good, and Peter told Michelle so. She just scoffed at him and went back to her book.

Peter thought she had smiled anyway, if ever so slightly.

“Are we still on for movie night?” Ned asked.

Peter paused, “yeah, my place?”

“Do you want to come MJ?” Ned asked, and Peter looked at her again, nodding in agreement at the idea.

“What?” Michelle squinted at them, it was like she was trying to read them, to see if they had any ulterior motives.

Sometimes Michelle took things way too seriously.

“Movie night!” Ned said. “It’s a pretty straightforward concept, MJ.”

“Why do you want _me_ to come, smartass?”

“We’re friends now,” Peter said, tilting his head slightly. “Right? Being friends with us means participating in movie night.”

Michelle’s eyes narrowed even farther, if possible.

“What are you watching?” Her face relaxed, resetting to its natural bored state, as she finally relented.

Peter beamed at her as Ned said, “Star Wars.”

Michelle rolled her eyes, clearly unsurprised. “Which one?”

“All of them.” Duh.

Michelle paused, her face perfectly neutral. “Okay. I’ll come. See you then, Spider-Man.”

Then she got up and left Peter and Ned gaping there, without another word.

**…**

When Tony found out his kid was Spider-Man, he didn’t know what to think.

Tony knew he had no business calling Peter his son. He’d never met the kid, he had had no hand in raising him.

And yet…

The first thing he did after dealing with the Mandarin was to see if Peter’s files had been compromised.

The first thing he did after he heard what happened with Captain America in D.C. was to check if Peter’s identity was still safe.

The first thing he did after he returned home from the Ultron fiasco was to check to see if the Parker’s had been affected.

He knew that he was being paranoid. That he had no right to be concerned over some random kid’s safety. But Peter was more than some random kid. Or he could’ve been. And Tony felt some odd responsibility over him.

And yet he kept tabs on him. J.A.R.V.I.S. monitored his activities, and the system protocol had passed onto F.R.I.D.A.Y.

So, Tony knew about every science fair. Every decathlon. He knew when Peter’s uncle had died. He knew about every hospital visit.

When Peter was 14, his aunt and uncle admitted him into the hospital. Tony had locked himself in his lab and for 24 hours, watching the hacked hospital updates. The doctors had no idea what was going on, changing diagnosis after diagnosis as they tried to figure out what was wrong with him.

Finally, Tony got a specialized doctor out to Queens Memorial. They were finally able to get him stabilized. The report updated: Traces of radiation in blood. Possible mutation.

Before the hospital could flag anyone down about it, Tony wiped the report, replacing it with a similar but less alarming report.

At the time Tony feared that he had meddled too much. It felt wrong to spy on the kid, and perhaps his involvement had grown large enough where someone would notice.

However, when Ultron attacked a few months later, Tony was glad that Peter was not anyone’s radar but his own. Still, he locked down his server on Peter’s information. Hiding it behind layers and layers of code.

And so, when a mutant superhero appeared in Queens, Tony was only slightly surprised. Tony had never been a religious guy, but he found himself praying to anyone out there that this had nothing to do with Peter.

Unfortunately, so Tony didn’t always get what he wanted.

So his kid was a vigilante. Running around in his pajamas.

On top of that, the government and Captain America was causing Tony some major trouble.

He needed help. The kid needed guidance.

Tony was either about to kill two birds with one stone, or royally fuck shit up.

**…**

“Peter!” Peter turned to see Ned hurrying down the front steps towards him. Oh, right. Movie night.

“Sorry, I was lost in thought,” Peter said sheepishly as Ned caught up. “Where’s MJ?”

“She said she’d meet us there,” Ned shrugged.

“Does she even know where I live?”

“Dude, apparently she knows you’re Spider-Man. I wouldn’t be surprised if she knew your blood type.”

Peter let out a small laugh. It felt good, and as he and Ned began to walk back to his apartment, Peter began to feel like a normal person again for the first time all week.

Until a sleek black car pulled up next to him.

“Hey, kid, get in.” It was Happy.

“Happy? What are you doing here?”

“Picking you up, let’s go.”

Peter looked between Ned and Happy before shaking his head. “Happy, I’m sorry, but I have other things going on…”

“Kid. Boss’s orders. I don’t have all day.”

Peter felt an odd rage surge inside him. Sure, he had been pretty mad when he found out the Tony was keeping this secret from him. And sure, Peter had been upset that Tony hadn’t talked to him all week.

But Mr. Stark could have at least talked to him himself. He could have come himself.

But he sent Happy.

“No. No, no Happy. He can’t just drop me on a street corner and leave me out in the cold and then expect me to still be waiting whenever he’s most convinced.”

Happy sat in stunned silence for a few seconds. “Kid, what are you talking about?”

Peter look away, his jaw clenching, before he answered Happy. “Things are different now Happy. I’ll see you around.”

And Peter walked away, turning around to go the opposite direction he had been heading to take the long way home. Ned quickly fell into step, shooting Peter a questioning look. The two didn’t speak the whole way home.

Michelle was waiting for them when Peter and Ned finally arrived Peter’s apartment. She didn’t say anything, just held up a bag of chips and a liter of soda.

Peter gave her a weak smile as he unlocked the door and let the two into his apartment.

**…**

When the giant little guy on Cap’s side hit Peter on his way down, Tony felt his heart sink a little. He landed, the kid looking half dead laying on the ground like that.

“Kid, you alright?” Before the words had even fully left Tony’s mouth the kid had jerked up, shouting incoherently.

“Same side! Guess who? Hi. It’s me.”

“Oh,” the kid sighed, a tired smile crossing his face. “Hey, man. That was scary.”

“Yeah, you’re _done,_ alright? You did a good job-”

“What?” The kid interrupted, sounding confused and disoriented.

“-Stay down.”

“I’m good, I’m fine.”

“Stay down.” Tony repeated, his voice getting louder.

“No, it’s good, I gotta get him back-”

“You’re going home, or I’ll call Aunt May! You’re done!” He flew off before the kid could argue more, and the suit reported to him that Peter had laid back down.

Even though he was too busy, with Cap and The Winter Jackass having escaped and Rhodey’s fall, Tony still personally saw to the kid’s flight back, dropping him off in front of his apartment.

He gave the kid a hug, even if he would never admit it (especially not to the kid), and let him keep the suit.

Now, some would call this ‘irresponsible parenting’. Other’s would call it ‘a stupid-ass decision’. But the kid was running around in his pajamas. This way at least Tony could monitor him.

It ended up coming in handy when the kid was dropped into a pond with a malfunctioning parachute pulling him down. It also helped when the kid skipped school and jumped on a fairy, not only failing to stop ‘the bad guys’, but also failing to keep the fairy from splitting into two.

So, Tony took the suit. Because it was obviously too much for the kid. Peter preached his whole spiel about ‘great responsibility’, but the kid had yet to grasp it himself.

It was better this way.

At least that was what Tony told himself. He was just taking it away until the kid could get his shit sorted out.

But when the jet went down, and Tony saw the mess of fire, shrapnel, equipment, and spiderwebs that it left on Coney Island in its wake, he wasn’t so sure he had done the right thing.

**…**

“Okay Parker,” Michelle huffed as she plopped down on the couch. “Spill.”

“What?”

Michelle rolled her eyes at the confused look on his face. “Something’s bothering you, loser. What is it?”

Ned looked over from the other side of Peter, more interested in the conversation than the movie.

“Nothing… nothing’s wrong guys.”

“Come one man,” Ned interjected. “Something’s been bugging you all week.”

“Can we please just watch this movie? Please?”

There was a beat of tense silence, in which Peter stubbornly stared at the screen. Ned was watching Peter out of the corner of his gaze, and Michelle was staring straight at him.

“Peter,” She said quietly. “It’s okay if you don’t want to tell us… but we just want to help.”

With that, she turned her gaze back to Tatooine flickering on Peter’s old TV.

Peter let out a slow breath.

“No one knew anything about my dad,” He finally relented. “My biological dad, that is. My birth mother said she didn’t know, and she died very soon after I was born.”

Peter rubbed his eyes, avoiding looking at either of his friends, who were watching him closely, as he continued his story.

“But earlier this week… well…” He turned to look at Ned, and then at Michelle. “What would you do if you were in my place, and if your biological father comes out of _nowhere_ ,” Peter didn’t notice that his voice had begun to rise. “and he’s _known_ that he was your dad for _six years_ and never planned on _telling you_?” 

Peter took a few deep breaths, looking down into his lap where his hands were clenched into tight fists, trying to control his temper. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet. “And what would you do if he was someone you had looked up to, and then you found out he didn’t want you?”

There was a heavy silence as his two friends began to process everything Peter had just laid out.

“Shit, Parker. That’s rough.”

Michelle’s comment pulled a dry laugh out of Peter, that did not at all sound like a choked sob.

“Who is he?” Ned’s genuine, honest curiosity was yet another trait of Ned’s that Peter most appreciated. It made it easy to talk to him, but hard to keep secrets from him. Even Spider-Man.

“You won’t believe me.”

“Dude, I’ve seen you walk on the celling and take on like, dozens of bad guys. Try me.”

“Tony Stark.”

Ned’s mouth dropped open and Michelle whispered, “Holy shit.”

“But…” Ned said after a moment’s silence. “He must have wanted you. Why would he contact you? Build you the suit? Invite you to be _an Avenger_? Why would he willingly spend time with you if he didn’t want to?”

“What if he only wanted Spider-Man?” Peter countered, bitterly. “And not Peter Parker?”

“Then he’s an idiot,” Michelle shrugged. “And if I were you I’d tell him so myself.”

Peter gave a strained laugh and Ned pat him on the back.

“He told me enough!” The TV Luke screamed, drawing the trio’s attention back to the television. “He told me _you_ killed him!”

Peter knew what was coming, he’d seen this movie more times than he could count, as Vader delivered the famous lines, it felt like a ton of bricks had been dropped upon him.

_The timing couldn’t be worse._ In a world of unholy coincidences, Peter found himself constantly drawing the short straw.

“No. _I_ am your father.”

He stood abruptly, his chest heaving was the world around him blurred.

“Peter?” Ned’s voice sounded distant and muffled in his ears.

He had never felt more vulnerable as he bolted from the room.

That’s how Peter found himself on the roof of his building, in the middle of winter without a coat. Ever since he was bit by that spider, Peter got cold easier. But he felt so numb anyway, he barely noticed.

Peter hasn’t see Tony for almost a week. Not since he had appeared at Peter’s apartment, revealed his biggest secret, and left.

Tony didn’t have to tell him for Peter to know that Tony was stretched thin these days.

Rumor was that the UN had been working for months on rewriting the Sokovia Accords, and it seemed that Captain America’s ‘merry group of bandits’ were in town for its ratification.

Which meant that there were most likely staying with Mr. Stark at the new Avengers Facility.

And since he was dealing with that, he had no time to deal with Peter. There was absolutely no way he was avoiding Peter…

Right?

Why would Mr. Stark come out of the blue to tell Peter he was his father, and then immediately stop contacting him?

_“The rich and the powerful, like Stark,”_ Toomes had told him. _“They don’t care about us.”_

A siren went off in the distance. It was quite a few miles away, but the sound had Peter almost snapping his head in that direction.

Peter stood from his crouched position and jumped of the building, shooting a web up towards the next one.

His heart didn’t feel as light as it usually did as he swung through the city.

**…**

Tony dropped his phone and set his elbows down on the counter in front of it. He brought his hands into his face and rubbed his palms into his eyes. He had a killer headache.

A glass of water was set down next to him and he started.

Steve was looking at him with those stupid concerned eyes as he held out a bottle of aspirin.

“I’m not hungover, you know.” Tony said, give Steve his signature Stark smile.

“Still,” Steve shrugged. “Looks like you could use it.”

Steve sat down next to him. He looked different from the Siberia. He had a beard now, and his blond hair was… less blond. His eyes were duller.

“I’m sorry, Tony”

Tony sighed. He’d heard Steve apologize more times in the last two days than he’d heard Peter apologize since he’d known him. Tony felt his heart clench as he thought of Peter.

“It’s fine, Steve. Water under the bridge.”

“No, no. Not for that. Well, yeah, I _am_ sorry for that, but I’m sorry that all this mess is causing you so much stress,” he paused. “The ratification. Us staying here. The press. It’s my fault this is happening in the first place.”

“Steve,” Tony groaned. “That _is_ the same thing you’ve been apologizing about. It’s _fine_. I… I just got something else on my mind, that’s all.”

“Oh,” Steve shifted awkwardly. “Do you need to talk about it?”

That was the thing about Steve Rogers, he always knew exactly what to say. Tony didn’t _want_ to talk to it. But… damn… did he _need_ to.

Tony scrubbed his face. “You ever have to deal with kids, Cap?”

“Can’t say that I have.”

“Well it sucks.”

The two sat in silence. Tony trying to find his words and Steve trying to give him the time.

“Tony-” Steve finally said, convinced that Tony wasn’t going to answer when, at the same moment, Tony began to speak as well.

“His name is Peter.”

If Steve was surprised, he didn’t show it.

“He’s fifteen,” Tony added. “Almost sixteen.”

“How long have you known?”

“Six years.” God, had it been that long?

“And how long has _he_ known?”

“Eight days.” Had it only been just over a week?

Steve nodded, glancing over at Tony, and not speaking.

“That’s not even the worst part.”

Steve raised an eyebrow.

“You’re going to hate me for this.” Tony warned, half joking, half worried.

“Try me.”

“He’s Spider-Man.”

Steve blinked. “You mean that kid you brought to Berlin?” He turned his head to fully face Tony’s profile as he spoke.

“You remember him?

“Queens. Strong kid, was he born like that?”

“No, a mutation triggered about two years ago.” Tony stole a glance at Steve. “So, what? No lecture?”

Steve’s expression was unreadable, and for some reason that annoyed Tony more.

“Come on! Tell how irresponsible I was to bring a fourteen-year-old kid to our little fight! I know you want to!” Steve continued to stare mutely at Tony, his eyes sad yet serious and suddenly Tony was taken back to the afternoon he had met Peter Parker.

_“When you can do the things that I can,”_ Peter had said, his words hitting Tony harder than they should have. “B _ut you don’t…And_ then _the bad things happen… they happen because of you.”_

Tony shook himself a little.

“Yell at me about how _young_ he is,” He continued to Steve. “About how _much life_ has ahead for him, and how if he got hurt it would’ve been my fault.”

Steve continued to remain silent, watching Tony with tired eyes, letting him rant.

“How irresponsible it was for me to get some girl knocked up and drop out of her life? How irresponsible it was for me to not be there for the kid the because _my father_ was bad, so _I_ should have been _better_ and-”

“Tony,” Steve finally interrupted. “The only one here thinking those things are you.”

Tony stared at Steve Rogers. The man with a plan who had just played him into spilling his demons. Screw his sincerity.

“You have to give these things time, Tony,” Steve continued. “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

Tony groaned again. “You’re so _old_ , Steve, besides, that’s not the point. The point is the kid hates me. I lied to him. And he’s under the impression that I only showed up because he became Spider-Man. Why shouldn’t he hate me?”

“But you did tell him, you tried to make it right.”

Tony shook his head. “Someone got into my servers. The kid’s aunt thought it would be best for me to tell him before anyone else tried. _He was right._ I never _was_ going to tell him. And… and I _did_ only show up because he was Spider-Man.” Tony forced himself to say it, and it hurt more than he thought it would. “I had been monitoring his life like some sort of stalker and when I figured out he was Spider-Man I decided to, I don’t know, _mentor him_. But I _still wasn’t going to tell him._ ”

Tony heaved a breath.

“Why were you so adamant about not telling him?” Steve questioned.

“Kid’s had a rough life. Lots of people coming and going… I didn’t want him to deal with another person who shows up just to leave. So, I decided not to show up at all.”

“Tony,” Steve’s voice was soft after a brief silence. “Your intensions were good. Maybe by staying away you _did_ save that kid a world of grief. But you can’t dwell on stuff like that. You can’t change what you did. The only thing you can do is… is to try to make it better.”

Steve’s eyes were staring off into nothing, his own words settling over the both of them. Finally, Tony spoke up.

“I guess that’s something we both have to work on.” He stole another glance at Steve, who smiled at him. His old smile, which, though it looked odd though the beard, was still just as comforting.

**…**

When the kid turned down Tony’s offer, Tony felt his heart sink. He tried not to let it show on his face.

Tony thought that having the kid at the compound would help Tony keep an eye on him. It had absolutely nothing to do with Tony wanting to spend time with the kid.

Nothing at all.

But this is what he wanted, wasn’t it? The kid had learned his lesson. The whole ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ thing had really been engrained in the kid’s systems.

He was going to do great as a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. And when he was ready for more, or, more likely, when Tony was in dire need of help again, he was always one call away.

Tony had done his part, he’d mentored the kid (without really doing much) and the kid was well on his way to becoming a truly amazing hero. So, Tony sent Peter back the suit. Partly because he felt an immeasurable guilt for putting the kid in danger by taking it, but mostly because the kid had truly earned it.

But he couldn’t shake the heavy weight on his heart.

The kid had his Aunt May. He didn’t need Tony. But as selfish as it may sound; Tony needed him.

**…**

“Boss,” F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s voice appeared from the ceiling. “You have a visitor.”

“Not now Fri, I told you I was busy.”

“I’m sorry, I’ve already let him up. He has just entered the elevator.”

Tony’s head jerked up. “ _What?_ Friday, is there a bug in your system?” He swiveled his chair around to open up F.R.I.D.A.Y’s code system.

“No sir, you told me to allow Mr. Parker full access to the building.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. clarified. “I can tell him to return at a later time if you’d like-”

“No!” Tony cut her off quickly. “Let him up!”

It had been two weeks since he had last seen Peter in his tiny Queen apartment.

Tony stood, stretching slightly before catching a glance of his reflection in his shop window. He looked like he hadn’t slept in a week and probably hadn’t. He ran his hand through his hair tiredly and checked his clock.

2:41am.

What was the kid doing up and away from his house at 2:41 am? What was he doing here? Was he here to talk? To yell? To denounce Tony as a father and a mentor? Tony wouldn’t blame him.

He was pulled from his thoughts when there was a hesitant knocking at the window that seperated his office from the rest of the building.

He turned sharply, pulling a muscle in his neck so it stung.  

Peter stood in his suit, his mask in his hands.

“Hey, kid.” Tony said, trying to keep his voice light, and failing horribly.

Peter looked tired and stressed, but still managed a small smile.

“Hey, Mr. Stark,” Peter said, his voice had a nervous edge to it. “I was uh… I was patrolling nearby, and I thought I’d… swing by?”

Pun. Good sign.

“I uh…” Peter was radiating nervousness, shifting where he stood. Tony almost offered him a seat but stopped himself so as not to interrupt Peter’s next train of thought.

“I thought that we could… talk?”

Tony looked at Peter (his son). For the first time he took in his slightly curled brown hair and his big brown eyes and his stature. He took in the way Peter’s hands never ceased to move as he fiddled with his mask and the way he stood tall but still leaned his head forward slightly. How he tried to keep his vision pointed at Tony, but his eyes kept flicking around the workshop. The resolution on his face with an underlying layer of fear.

He was scared to be here. To talk. But he was still here.

Peter Parker. Who was smart and funny and selflessly kind. Who got superpowers and his first instinct was to help the little guy. Who had lost so much yet still gave all he could back to the world. This wonderful child who did not need Tony Stark to be wonderful.

And Tony need to make sure his kid knew that.

“Yeah,” Tony said, allowing his own fear to peak though his arrogant façade. To be honest with his kid. To be real. “Let’s talk.”

**…**


End file.
